D and I have been eating a lot of fish lately. Since it has finally gotten warmer outside, it is hard to imagine slaving over the stove to create a dish (how funny this will sound when I post the next item in queue).
It helps that we have also found our new wine of the summer. This seems difficult to believe, especially if you have read my recent posting about drinking local this summer with New York State wines. But it’s true, D and I enjoy a good glass or so of wine on most nights and we’re out for experimentation.
We recently met a very knowledgeable former-wine distributer, who is currently working on Vin Rouge in Brooklyn, who told us (in summation): There are far too many delicious wines out there and life is far too short to try them all. Never drink the same bottle twice.
With that new attitude in mind, D and I are making a point to try new things, sampling bottles from regions within our price range one at a time. After the above mentioned New York endeavors (which continue) we embarked on Spain in honor of some friends that recently moved to Ohio (one is Spanish).
Oh how sweet it would be if I lived in Spain. Specifically in the north-west region of Galicia (where the friend is from). It is here that they make the preciously silky (and reasonably priced) Albarino. It pairs marvelously well with seafood, so give it a try next time for a meal like this one (or your own creation).
If D and I find a wine we don’t like, we’ll throw the bottle in the fridge with hopes of incorporating it into a future meal. This usually terrifies D. The thinking being that if a wine is horrible to the palate do you really want to use it in cooking? D has accused me of ruining a few meals in my day with “tainted wine.” More often it’s not the wine, but my own hunger taking over my mind in the cooking process. Sabotaging the meal in order to be satiated. Though I will admit, it is sometimes the wine (especially those overly sugary ones where you cannot burn enough of anything off because you will always be left with too much sugar).
This time, we bypassed the sketchy wines in the fridge for vermouth.
Julia Child sung the praises of vermouth in cooking, but it always seemed like such a dated sauce base. Vermouth, really? I mean, I love a good (extra) dry vodka martini– which translates to: open a bottle of vermouth and wave your martini glass over the open bottle so only the vermouth fumes enter the glass. Too much vermouth just kills a good martini! But not a good sauce…
Let’s be honest, this is the first vermouth sauce I have made in my life, but it was delicious. And I’m sure it wasn’t just the heavy cream and butter. The vermouth added a deeply complex flavor to the sauce that was never there before. It is definitely something I will turn to in the future (now I can throw those sketchy wine bottles out!). Besides, vermouth practically lasts forever, so there are no worries about opening a bottle without being able to finish it.
Accompanying the red snapper steaks was farm fresh asparagus we picked up at Sang Lee Farms while touring the vineyards of Long Island. This asparagus wowed us with its crisp freshness and earthy flavor. And while asparagus is a known killer of wine, it paired nicely with the Albarino.
The other side pictured are mashed purple potatoes. I’ve mentioned these before here and here. They are truly amazing on the eyes and a fabulous dish– sweeter than a regular ol’ sweet potato. I mashed these with cream, chives and a sprinkle of truffle oil, a great earth pair to the sage.
Seared Red Snapper in Sage Vermouth Cream Sauce
Serving size= 2. Active time= 20 minutes
* 2 red snapper steaks (another meaty fish can be substituted like swordfish or tuna)
* 1/4 cup vermouth
* 2 teaspoons capers
* 1 tablespoon fresh sage, loosely chopped
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1/4 cup cream
* salt/ pepper to taste1) In a large skillet, warm 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat. While the pan warms, generously salt/ pepper each side of the red snapper steaks.
2) Once the butter stops bubbling, add steaks. Cook 2-3 minutes, flip, cook 2-3 minutes more. Exact cook time will depend on how thick the steaks are, but they should be fairly firm to the touch.
3) Remove red snapper, cover to keep warm. Turn heat to high, add vermouth, scraping up any bits of fish stuck to the bottom of the pan. Careful, as vermouth has a high alcohol content and will ignite easily.
4) Allow alcohol to cook off, about 2-3 minutes and reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, the capers and sage. Allow flavors to incorporate, stirring, about 1 minute.
5) Add cream, and heat to just warm. Remove from heat, salt and pepper to taste. Serve over red snapper and garnish with a fresh sage sprig.